Car washing brush



April 1945- H. B. CALDWELL 2,372,933

CAR WASHING BRUSH Filed ri; s, 1944 Patented Apr. 3, 1945 UNITED STATESPATENT 'OFFlCE CAR WASHING BRUSH Harold B. Caldwell, New York, N. Y.,assignor to Whitln tion of Illinois g Corporation, Harvey, Ill., acorpora- Applioation April 8, 1944, Serial No. 530,140

3 Claims.

the shaft and is adapted to form a part of a car washing apparatus ofthe variety that embodies a mast structure at one side of a track forthe cars to be washed, an upstanding C- shaped frame which is pivotallyconnected to the mast structure to swing to and from the cars, carriesat the outer or distal ends of the upper and lower arms thereof bearingsfor the ends of the brush shaft and has means for urging it in thedirection of the cars in order to bring the brush into contact orengagement with the cars as the latter are propelled past the apparatus,and power driven means which is associated with the frame and serves todrive the brush for car washing purposes when the frame is in itsoperative position, I

In fabricating a car washing brush of this type it has heretofore beencustomary to utilize brush equipped sleeves which are splitlongitudinally to form complemental semi-cylindrical sections and toarrange the sections of each sleeve so that the ends thereof areconterminous or coplanar. It also has been customary to clamp each ofthe bristle carrying'sleeves to the shaft by way of bolts which extendtransversely through the complemental semi-cylindrical sections. Inpractice it has been found that a car washing brush which is fabricatedin the aforementioned manner has certain disadvantages or defections. Inthe first place, the brush, especially after it becomes worn, has ringshaped spaces between thebristles at the ends of the sleeves and thesespaces result in the cars being washed by the. brush having unwashedstreaks or zones. Secondly, the sleeves sometimes slip relatively to theshaft when, in connection with a car washing operation. the bristlesthereof are brought into engagement with car protuberances. such, forexample, as window frames and hand rails.

The primary object of the invention is to pro.- vide a car washing brushwhich is animprovement upon, and eliminates the disadvantages ordefections of. previous brushes by reason of the fact that thesemi-cylindrical bristle carrying sleeve sections at one side of theshaft are longitudinally offset with respect to the complementalsections at the opposite side of the shaft. By having the sleevesections at one side of the shaft longitudinally oflset with respect tothe complemental sections at the other side of the shaft the brush, evenwhen worn, has no ring shaped spaces which result in unwashed streaks orzones on the cars. Furthermore, the sleeve sections are interlockedthroughout the length of the shaft and hence the tendency of thesections to slip when the bristles thereof are brought into engagementwith car protuberances is obviated.

Another object of theinvention is to Provide a car washing brush whichis generally of new and improved construction, may be manufactured at alow and reasonable cost and is characterized by high efliciency and longlife.

Other objects of the invention and the various advantages andcharacteristics of the present car washing brush will be apparent from aconsideration of the following detailed description.

The invention consists in the several novel features which arehereinafter set forth and are more particularly defined by claims at theconclusion hereof.

In the drawing which accompanies and forms a part of this specificationor disclosure and in which like numerals of reference denotecorresponding parts throughout the several views:

Figure 1 is a front elevational view of a car washing apparatus having abrush embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is a fragmentary perspective of the brush showing the manner inwhich the bristle carrying semi-cylindrical sleeve sections at one sideof the shaft are longitudinally offset with respect to the sections atthe other side of the shaft;

Figure 3 is a fragmentary longitudinal section of the improved brush;and

Figure 4 is a transverse section taken on the line 6-4 of Figure 3 andillustrating in detail the manner in which the sleeve sectionsat one 40side of the shaft are bolted to the sections at the other side of theshaft.

The brushwhich is shown in the drawing constitutes the preferred form orembodiment of the invention. It is especially designed, and adapted foruse in washing cars, comprises a vertically extending shaft 5 and aseries of bristle carrying sleeves 5, and forms a part of a car washingapparatus A. The latter, in addition to the brush, embodies a maststructure a, a c-shaped frame a and a brush driving electric motor a Themast structure a of the car washing apparatus A is located at one sideof a track (not shown) for the cars to be washed. It serves pivotally tosupport the O-shaped frame a and includes a crossbar a at its lower endand a crossbar a at its upper end. The c-shaped frame a comprises avertically extending memher a, a lower horizontally extending arm a andan upper horizontally extending arm a". The ends of the verticallyextending-member a of the frame a are provided with pintles and theseare Journalled in bearings a on the crossbars of the mast structure aand permit the frame to swing to and from the cars to be washed. Springor other means (not shown) is applied to the frame and serves inconnection with use of the apparatus to urge the frame towards the carsin order to bring the brush into its operative position. The brush asshown in Figure 1, extends between the outer or distal ends of thehorisontallv extending arms a and a of the C-shaped frame. The outer endof the arm (1' is provided with a bearing a for the lower end of thebrush shaft I. The upper end of the brush shaft is journalled in, andextends through. a bearing a on the outer or distal end of the upperhorizontally extending arm a of the c-shaped frame The electric motor ais mounted on the frame arm a" and is connected to drive the brush byway of a belt and pulley connection a" comprisinga pulley on thearmature shaft of the motor, a pulley on the upper end of the brushshaft and an endless belt arranged around the two pulleys. when themotor a is in operation it effects drive of the brush.

The sleeves t of the brush are split longitudinally to form complementalsemi-cylindrical sections 1 and s. The bristles of the brush pro- Jectradially from the sleeves and have the inner ends thereof suitablyconnected to the outer peripheral portions of the sections. The sleevesections 1 are located at one side of the shaft 6 and are arranged sothat the ends thereof are in abutment. The sleeve sections l are'located at theother side of the shaft 8 and are arranged so that theends thereof abut against one another.

As shown in the drawing, the sleeve sections I are longitudinally offsetwith respect to the sections 1 and are secured to the latter bytransversely extending bolts 8. Such bolts extend through alignedtransversely extending holes it in the sections I and 8 and serve toclamp the bristle carrying sleeves around the shaft I. The sleevesections 1 are the same in length as the sections I.- By reason of thefact that the semi-cylindrical sections 8 are longitudinally offset withrespect to the sections I the brush. even when worn, has no ring shapedspaces between the bristles at the ends of thesleeves and hence duringuse thereof operates to wash and effectively clean all portions of thecars that are drawn therepast. In addition. the sleeve sections areinterlocked throughout the length of the brush and hence there is nolikelihood of the sleeves slipping with respect to the shaft when thebristles are brought into engagement with car protuberanccs, such, forexample. as window frames and hand rails.

The herein described car washing brush eflectively and emclentlyfulfills its intended purpose and is characterized by simplicity ofdesign or construction and long life.

The invention is. not to be understood as re- 10 stricted to the detailsset forth since these may be modified within the scope of the appendedclaims without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

Having thus described the invention what I '15 claim as new and desireto secure the Letters Patent is:

1. A car washing brush comprising a drive shaft, a longitudinal seriesof semi-cylindrical bristle carrying sleeve sections mounted on one sideof the shaft, and a longitudinal series of complemental semi-cylindricalbristle carrying sleeve sections mounted on the other side of the shaftand arranged in such longitudinally offset relation with the sections ofthe first mentioned series that each of its sections with the exceptionof one of its end sections overlaps two opposcd sections of said firstmentioned series.

2. A car washing brush comprising a drive shaft. a longitudinal seriesof semi-cylindrical bristle carryingv sleeve sections mounted on oneside of the shaft and arranged so that the endsthereof are in abutment.and a longitudinal series of end to end complemental semi-cylindricalbristle carrying'sleeve sections mounted on the other side of the shaftand arranged in longitudinally oflset relation with the sections of thefirst mentioned series and in such manner thatv each of its sectionswith the exception of one of its end sections is in abutment with, andoverso laps, two opposed sections of said first mentioned side ofthe-shaft and arranged so that the ends thereof are in abutment, alongitudinal series of complemental end to end semi-cylindrical bristlecarrying sleeve sections mounted on the other side of the shaft andarranged in such longitudinally offset relation with the sections of thefirst mentioned series that each of its sections with the exception ofone of its end sections overlaps two opposed sections of said firstmentioned series, andmeans extending transversely through the sideportions of the sections and serving reasonably to clamp the sections inplace around the shaft.

HAROLD B. CALDWELL.

CERTIFICATE or comm-ton. v Patent No. 2, 72,9 A rn 191 HAROLD B.-)CAIJJJELL.

It ishereby certified that error appears in thejriizte'd apccif1cat1onof the, abovc numbered patent requiring correctiqnccfollowa: Page-2',aga and column, line 56, claim fi for the word "reaappabiy"rcgflf-reloaaa'blig and that the said Letters Patent should b read withthis-ccmctibn therein that the same ma yk conform Itc the record cfthc'ca ac inthe Pctent Office Q Signed and sealed this 12th day of June,A. n; $9M

Leslie Frazer (Scal) Q Acting Commissioner of Patents

